Of course it is nearly two years after the event but Bradley's pronouncement comes on the eve of the rematch in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Maybe he needs to convince himself or it could be he believes the judges were right. But if Bradley – a fine champion who came through a gruelling examination by Ruslan Provodnikov to retain his WBO welterweight title – thinks he was twice as good as Pacquiao on the night, he is deluding himself.

"I thought Bradley nicked it," the excellent analyst Gary Logan said on Buncey's Boxing Hour on BoxNation – and this is a rare instance where I must disagree with "Shogun". It was closer than the baying mob reckoned (because they never keep a scorecard) but not that close.

Where Logan hits the spot is wondering if Pacquiao can go through the gears as he did in his pomp. He probably can't. He used to be a demented punch-thrower, after all, and he is 35 years old, with 19 of those spent as a pro. But he was special for much of that time, he is still good enough to beat Bradley, who can be one-dimensional, and he has the incentive to prove Timothy wrong.

There is significant mutual respect between them and neither indulges in trash talk. When Max Kellerman brought them together for a head to head, Bradley observed: "The hunger that he's looking for? It's no longer there. It's gone. It's gone. He's a tremendous fighter but I don't see it."

But Pacquiao scored the knockout final stare, embroidered with a biblical haymaker: "He who humbles himself will be exalted; he who exalts himself will be humbled."

Coming from a man who claims to have seen Jesus Christ, that is powerful stuff – or is Manny kidding himself too? Soon see.

For those who have forgotten, Jerry Roth gave the first fight to Pacquiao 115-113, while Duane Ford and CJ Ross scored it for Bradley by the same margin. Fans at the MGM booed the place down and 47 of the 48 ringside reporters polled gave it to Pacquiao, averaging a score of 117-111.

In 10 notable bouts over a decade, Ross was at odds with her fellow judges; more pointedly, in six of those contests she scored it a draw, which strongly suggests a lack of self-belief in her judgment.

Counting the cost

Ten is the double-digit boxers fear most – unless followed by several noughts on a contract. Hugo Fidel Cázares, who had been stopped three times in a splendid career, the last time in 1999, but never was counted out, heard the dreaded judgment in Belfast on Saturday night. Or did he?

In his 50th fight, at the age of 36, the former two-weight world champion shipped a perfect left hook from Carl Frampton and it sent him tumbling along the ropes to the floor, where he found refuge on his own knee, with his left arm resting on the lower rope. He looked up at Victor Loughlin, smiled at his corner and generally did not seem to be distressed. However, having just complained of a dig to his thigh with a theatrical hopping exhibition, Cázares, it has to be said, did not look like Belfast was where he wanted to be.

Could he have carried on? Certainly. He had recovered well enough when he rose on steady feet to argue volubly with the referee, Loughlin. But his rage did not last. Within a couple of minutes he was still smiling and applauding the winner, along with the 9,000 fans in the Odyssey Arena.

"Victor Loughlin is one of the best referees in the world," said Barry McGuigan, the Irishman's manager. "He was trying to protect the kid."

I have no argument with that but, going on the number of fingers Loughlin held up in front of the Mexican's face as he kept one knee on the canvas, the experienced Scot did appear to go from eight to 10. Bernard Dunne, the former world super-bantamweight champion working at the fight for BoxNation, suspected he might have done. "Did he skip 'nine'?" asked Dunne. "I don't know."

However, Steve Bunce made the point that "there was definitely a 'nine' from the timekeeper". Repeated replays were inconclusive.

As Frampton saw it: "He can complain all he wants. He said he misread the count but he didn't want to get up."

And that judgment is on the money. As much as Cázares complained, he did not give the impression his heart was in it. When fighters want to quit, they find a way. We do not have to always believe them.

It was a beautiful left hook around the southpaw jab, by the way; textbook boxing crafted by Frampton's trainer, Shane McGuigan, who, at 25, is two years younger than his fighter (I can't think of a similar arrangement at this level).

Split loves

So, Ricky Burns has split with Billy Nelson and, according to the rumours, James DeGale has left Mick Hennessy (he did not return calls). Frank Warren, meanwhile, is not best pleased that Nathan Cleverly has moved over to Matchroom to campaign as a cruiserweight. There are more moves in boxing than a Spassky-Fischer chess match.

Speaking of which, Anthony Joshua, whom Eddie Hearn confirmed will be on the Froch-Groves undercard at Wembley on 31 May, is working on his chess skills – although he has yet to accept a challenge from the Guardian.